ABA names new Executive Director

Henry F. "Hank" White Jr.

The American Bar Association has named Henry F. "Hank" White Jr., current president of the Institute of International Container Lessors and retired Rear Admiral in the U. S. Navy Reserve, to be its new Executive Director effective on October 1. He is succeeding Robert A. Stein, who announced his plans to leave the Association in June 2005, following a 12-year tenure as Executive Director.

In making the announcement on August 4, then-ABA President Michael S. Greco said, "After a year-long national search, we found a leader who has the vision and versatility the ABA needs to meet the complex issues and challenges facing the Association and the legal profession today. Hank White brings to the position of ABA Executive Director a unique blend of skills as lawyer, administrator and executive; a demonstrated record of leadership, professionalism and accomplishment; a results-oriented attitude and dedication; and a demonstrated commitment to public service. We are extremely pleased with his selection."

White will lead a staff of more than 900 professional employees, and have overall management responsibility for staff operations at the Association's headquarters in Chicago, at its Washington, D.C., office, and at program sites in more than 40 countries around the world. He will work in conjunction with ABA member leaders to develop and direct implementation of the Association's strategic goals, and to maintain and build the ABA's position as the premier professional association for lawyers in the world and as the national voice of the legal profession. He will oversee programs and policy activities adopted by the association's governing and policy-making bodies, the Board of Governors and House of Delegates, and the expansion of membership in the Association.

"I look forward to serving as the Executive Director of this great professional association whose work, so important to the legal profession and to our democracy, touches all Americans each and every day," said White. "The ABA's commitment to professionalism and public service is the embodiment of the ideals found in the members of the legal profession with whom I have had the opportunity to serve almost three decades."

As president of the Institute of International Container Lessors, White represented the international container and chassis leasing industry in numerous forums, among others the International Maritime Organization, the World Customs Organization and the International Standards Organization, while significantly restructuring the Institute's internal organization and finances.

He presently serves on the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection, and has been actively engaged in numerous professional and charitable organizations, including service as an officer of the Fordham University School of Law Alumni Association.

On his retirement from the Navy Reserve, he was serving as Vice Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, the Navy's largest operational command with responsibility for the organization, manning and equipping of all U.S. Naval Forces assigned to combatant commanders worldwide and the direct operation of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and its multi-billion dollar budget for over 127,000 personnel, 180 ships, 1200 aircraft and 37 shore bases.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Fordham University School of Law, White initially practiced law as a member of the New York based firm Hill Betts & Nash, served as a Deputy Commissioner of Transportation for the City of New York, where he was responsible for the operations and oversight of all mass transit owned, operated or subsidized by the City of New York, and later as Counsel to the Mayor of New York City. He then opened and managed the New York City office of the Los Angeles based firm Barger & Wolen, as the resident member of the firm.

White's remarks to the House of Delegates on August 8 can be seen online here.

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